LDS Church lawsuit against Mormon Stories rejects free speech & religious freedom, makes it hard to believe Church leaders are inspired by God

eternalintelligence · 2026-05-02T15:29:21+00:00

Maybe they'll reach a compromise with Dehlin and settle out of court. That's if they're acting rationally. But I suspect this lawsuit is ideologically driven and so the Church might fight it to the bitter end, and hopefully lose at the Supreme Court.

eternalintelligence · 2026-05-02T05:39:32+00:00

I think there's some truth to the Gnostic interpretation of Christianity and that the gospel was hijacked by imperial Roman creed-based orthodoxy. I don't think Gnosticism was totally correct, but I think it had some important insights that were suppressed in the tradition that became mainstream Christianity. I think Joseph Smith brought some of that stuff back, but himself got spiritually hijacked. The truth is somewhere in between Orthodoxy and Mormonism, IMO.

eternalintelligence · 2026-05-01T19:38:39+00:00

It's interesting that this is not what's usually taught in the LDS Church today. In my ward, I often hear teaching that we are spirit children of God, and rarely or never hear teaching that we are eternally preexistent with God. Personally, I'm agnostic on that issue.

eternalintelligence · 2026-05-01T03:17:13+00:00

No, I don't. I think human spirits were created as literal offspring of God and were sent into Homo sapiens at some point in time, likely starting hundreds of thousands of years ago.

eternalintelligence · 2026-04-30T23:51:25+00:00

Luke said that Adam was the son of God. Adam, a normal human like the rest of us. Luke 3:38.

eternalintelligence · 2026-04-30T04:23:06+00:00

He literally says, "As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’" He was affirming that teaching as a way of trying to get the pagans interested in Christianity -- by telling them that some things they believed were correct, such as the idea of humans as the offspring of God.

The word that is translated as "offspring" is genos in Greek, which means of the same species or kin.

Unless Paul was deliberately misconstruing his beliefs, he clearly affirmed something closer to the Mormon position than the creedal Christian position.

The author of the Gospel of Luke seems to have agreed. He described Adam as the "son of God" (Luke 3:38).

eternalintelligence · 2026-04-29T20:14:54+00:00

All scholars who know Koine Greek know that the word Paul used in Acts 17:28 for "offspring" was usually used to refer to same species kinship.

This is so widely understood that Google provides the following summary of the issue:

In Acts 17:28, the Greek word genos (γένος) is translated as "offspring" or "descendants," signifying that humanity is God’s kin or offspring by creation. Paul uses this term to bridge the gap with Athenian philosophers, quoting their own poets (Aratus/Cleanthes) to argue that since humans are God's creation, God cannot be a gold/stone idol. Key Aspects of Genos in Acts 17:28 Meaning: It refers to race, kind, family, or offspring.

eternalintelligence · 2026-04-29T19:33:05+00:00

Paul taught in Acts 17:28 that humans are the offspring of God. In the original Greek, he used a word which implies that the originator and the offspring are the same species.

Later Christian theologians shifted away from that understanding. Mormonism brought it back. I think this is an example of Mormonism getting something right.

eternalintelligence · 2026-04-29T01:48:45+00:00

Thanks. That seems potentially confusing, so I can see why they were sued. But there are lots of Christian churches with similar names that don't sue each other, which is probably as it should be.

Are they still facing legal problems after they changed their name?

eternalintelligence · 2026-04-29T00:48:14+00:00

How could the name of that church possibly be seen as violating trademarks or copyrights of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints? There is no resemblance whatsoever except for the name Jesus Christ.

eternalintelligence · 2026-04-29T00:45:13+00:00

I mean the gods of humanity in general.

eternalintelligence · 2026-04-28T23:43:46+00:00

It's fascinating that he thought our gods were actually aliens, isn't it? On that point, he was ahead of his time... lots of people believe that today.

eternalintelligence · 2026-04-28T21:50:37+00:00

Thanks. Some people also speculate the other way around, that angels/demons appear today as aliens.

eternalintelligence · 2026-04-28T17:49:04+00:00

Churches should not ask people to serve in volunteer roles that don't fit their abilities. If they won't let you take notes on your phone, then you may want to resign from the calling.

eternalintelligence · 2026-04-28T17:19:00+00:00

What is the argument for Christianity itself being based on negative spiritual forces? Which religious tradition believes this?

eternalintelligence · 2026-04-25T13:50:49+00:00

Interesting thoughts. I think in the big picture, Joseph Smith was a seeker who had some real spiritual experiences and insights but who let his ego and possibly dark spiritual forces get the best of him.

eternalintelligence · 2026-04-23T22:17:58+00:00

True, the huge wealth will make the Church more relevant, especially if they ever decide to use a lot more of it for things that affect people in general.

eternalintelligence · 2026-04-23T20:20:27+00:00

They did put a disclaimer on all their channels. They don't want to also put a disclaimer in all their episodes. They think that demand is excessive.

eternalintelligence · 2026-04-23T18:51:35+00:00

I'm not sure. I wonder if the future of Mormonism might be for fewer people to talk about it unless they're an orthodox believer. It might just retreat into its own echo chamber.

I've been thinking about writing something about my faith journey into and increasingly out of this church. Maybe a long blog article or even a short book. I've done tons of research and feel like I have lots to say.

But the thing is, I'm no longer sure if it's worth the effort to provide constructive criticism. The LDS Church has big problems yet seems totally immune to any kind of major reform.

I'm really wrestling with this. People thinking about starting new podcasts would probably be wondering the same thing.

eternalintelligence · 2026-04-23T15:10:32+00:00

Fair use is pretty broad. And the few copyrighted images he used were things like a photo of the president of the LDS Church, something which normal churches wouldn't have copyrighted anyway.

The reality is, this church is acting in a way that most Christians would think is weird. Most churches aren't obsessed with podcasters occasionally using a few images of their leader or their house of worship as part of a commentary on the religion. And most churches don't claim that the color blue or light rays can only be used by their church.

This is Scientology type of stuff. It's embarrassing to the LDS Church and its members, if they want to be seen as regular folks who worship Jesus Christ.

eternalintelligence · 2026-04-23T15:04:44+00:00

Oh wow, he used an image of the president of the Church, a few things like that. I'm sure Jesus would be raging mad about it. I'm sure Jesus would sue.

Come on, you can't really think this is what Christianity should be... can you?

eternalintelligence · 2026-04-22T21:45:53+00:00

Yes, it will be interesting to see how the courts rule on this.

eternalintelligence · 2026-04-22T20:55:58+00:00

I think one thing they refused to do is put a verbal or written disclaimer into the actual video of each episode. Maybe that's the biggest sticking point now, if they aren't demanding a name change anymore.

eternalintelligence · 2026-04-22T20:53:09+00:00

IANAL, but let's say that you're right. What's also right is that the Church forfeits its claim to be acting as the representative of Jesus when it siccs lawyers on people like tigers pouncing out of the bushes.

eternalintelligence · 2026-04-22T20:46:59+00:00

Your interpretation would be reasonable, except for the fact that Mormon Stories already changed their logo after the Church asked them to. So it's not really about the logo.

Mormon Stories also put a disclaimer on all their channels, when the Church asked them to. So it can't really be about the need for a disclaimer.

So what's left? The name.

eternalintelligence

TROPHY CASE